


Meet Cute

by chucksauce



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/F, First Impressions, Flirting, Fluff, One-Shot, awkward Molly is adorable, uni!Molly, uni!Sally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 07:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2613311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucksauce/pseuds/chucksauce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The girl from the kiosk was smiling right at her. And she was gorgeous.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>“You have such beautiful hair. Can I steal you a sec? I just want to see something.”</i></p><p> </p><p>Or: In which Molly and Sally are both awkward at flirting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a one-shot so far. After the madness that is NaNo, I might be prevailed upon to continue it, but for now? It's just a cute story about two girls.

Molly huffed and tugged at the strap of her laptop bag. Power-walking through the mall because one parked on the wrong end was a terrible way to get in exercise for the day, but here she was. Her calves burned as she strove to make her appointment at the Genius Bar on time. This was her one day off this week, and she’d already survived too many days without her laptop. So aching legs bedamned, she had to make it to the Apple Store in the next three minutes.

She blew past stores, weaved between slower shoppers. There were only two stores left between her and Apple. Up ahead, a kiosk vendor stood talking to another employee, and Molly couldn’t tell what they were selling, mainly bent on her mission, but the vendor’s skirt caught her eye. Well, more like, the shape of said skirt.

From behind, the vendor wasn’t much taller than Molly, though her dark skin and riotous curly hair gave way to a slender waist clad in a flower-print dress that hugged her hips in all the best ways possible. And the boots the girl wore? Knee-high and black, with edgy studs at the heel and toe. Even from behind, Molly could tell this was the type of girl that was A.) just her type and B.) completely out of her league.

_Focus. Dying hard drive. Laptop. Thirty seconds to make it in time._

So Molly drew her eyes away, sprinting to the Apple Store.

 

# # # # #

 

“A hundred and sixty pounds?” Molly tried to keep the dismay out of her voice, but the sympathetic, wincing smile the man behind the counter offered her told her she’d failed. She nodded, and rummaged for her card. “It’s better than having to buy a new laptop, at least.” 

The Genius Bar attendant ran the card, and Molly slumped on her stool, thankful she’d managed to scrape together some amount of savings to cover emergencies like this. She’d be eating ramen for the next two weeks, but at least she’d be able to get her assignments in.

“All set. And if you've got any problems, just let us know--your warranty is good for a year.”

Molly collected her laptop, complete with freshly-installed new hard drive, pulled a strand of lank, straight hair behind one ear, and left the store. She tried not to pine over the tables of shiny gadgets on her way out.

 _How am I going to afford this? I don’t even have enough to get back to campus now._ The frisson of worry teetered on anxiety, completely unaided by how tired and sweaty she was from having hauled arse across the mall to get to her appointment on time. _If I can make it back to campus maybe I could borrow a tenner from--_

“Ma’am?”

The fierce cheerfulness of the voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and blinked.

The girl from the kiosk was smiling right at her. And she was gorgeous.

“You have such beautiful hair. Can I steal you a sec? I just want to see something.”

Molly blushed, but glanced over kiosk girl’s shoulder to see a booth with a whole array of curling irons, flat irons, and some mysterious hair product bottles in various shapes and sizes, all with the same black label.

The girl closed the distance between them, meeting Molly’s eyes as she laid a hand on her upper arm. “C’mon, it won’t take but a minute.”

Good lord, but the girl’s eyes were a distracting shade of brown. And the freckles speckling her cheeks? Molly bit her lip.

 _I really don’t have the money to buy whatever it is,_ Molly thought, but then, with the way the girl was smiling at her, she changed her mind. _Maybe a minute wouldn’t hurt. Most of the people they snag probably don’t buy their stuff anyhow._

The kiosk girl was just close enough Molly could smell her perfume. And the way her eyes crinkled? This girl must've made a killing in commissions.

“Yeah, um, sure,” Molly replied, and let herself be steered toward the kiosk.

“Have a seat,” the girl said, pulling back a stool. “I’m Sally. What may I call you?”

Molly gave her name as she clambered onto the stool and caught her reflection in the mirror. Pale skin flushed at the edges, lanky hair, and that awkward thing she called a smile? There was no way she had a chance with Sally. And odds were, Sally probably had some douchey boyfriend anyhow.

Well, even if there wasn’t a snowball’s chance, she could still enjoy the attention of someone being nice to her, even for a sale.

“That’s such a pretty name.” Sally stepped beside her, a warm hand resting against Molly’s shoulder, a light touch through the thin fabric of her cardigan. “D’you ever curl your hair, Molly?”

Molly mumbled out some answer, completely distracted by the way Sally’s head tilted and her hips canted, her free hand propped right above the stylish black studded belt slung around her waist.

Sally launched into her pitch, and if Molly heard just how warm and friendly Sally’s voice was, she didn’t catch a damn word of what she said. But she nodded in the right places about ceramic plating and ion something-something, and then Sally lifted a fingertip to brush against Molly’s hair. “May I?”

“I--er, yeah.” God, was it always this hot in the mall?

Sally lifted a curling iron from the workstation of the little kiosk, and her knuckles brushed Molly’s cheeks as she lifted a section of hair away from her face. “Oh, sorry,” she said, but it didn’t sound like a sorry to Molly. Too playful.

 _She’s definitely good at her job,_ Molly thought. _I’d almost think she was delusional enough to be flirting with me._

Sally wound the strand in the curling iron, waited a second, and released it. Molly could feel the heat still clinging to her hair as it brushed against her face.

“You have such pretty eyes, Molly. So how often would you say you do up your hair?”

Molly blinked, caught on the first part of that, and mumbled something to answer the second. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fidgeting. 

Sally’s eyes caught the movement, and either Molly was imagining things or Sally leaned in a fraction closer. “I like your bracelet.”

 _Her lips look so soft,_ Molly thought, only belatedly hearing what Sally had said this time. “Thanks,” she squeaked.

“Here, I’ll give ya a few more, if you like.” Sally waggled the curling iron, and Molly nodded.

Sally worked quickly, adding more curls at the front on each side, and a scant few around the back to even things out. “Hang on a tic,” she said, and placed the curling iron on its mat before sliding open a little drawer and producing a bobby pin. Her fingertips grazed Molly’s scalp as she lifted the section Molly’d been tucking behind her ear, twisting it deftly and pinning it into place.

From the mirror’s reflection, Molly could see Sally smile in satisfaction.

“Thanks,” she offered. 

“See? I knew it. Just beautiful.” Sally stepped back and around to another side of the kiosk, and Molly was thankful for the timing because she could even feel her ears burning now, that’s how traitorous the blush had gotten.

When Sally came back round, she held a box and a two bottles of product. She placed them before Molly and went into another pitch about the quality of the irons, and their warranty, but Molly was lost again in the confident tones of Sally’s voice.

That was, until Sally said, “If you wanted to get it today, it’s only £289.”

Molly couldn’t help how wide her eyes got. _No wonder she’s being so nice._ “I--I don’t have that kind of money, I’m sorry--”

“Well, I do have these coupons for £50 off…” Sally drawled, plucking up a slip of paper from a stack to flash at Molly.

Molly shook her head, and now her embarrassment took a turn from pleasantly flustered to mildly mortified. “I really wish I did, only I just got my computer fixed and I--”

“And I could throw in this shampoo and conditioner, which is usually £10 a bottle.”

Molly bit her lip. She didn’t even care about the iron, or the silly shampoo, but she would’ve bought it anyway just to please Sally, if she wasn’t disastrously broke. It was for the best that she was, anyways, because what did she need with a £300 curling iron, of all things? Ninety percent of her waking hours were holed up in the lab at Uni, anyhow.

“I can’t,” she said, unable to meet Sally’s level gaze.

But Sally’s smile didn’t waver, never left her eyes. “Oh, you _are_ driving a hard bargain! Listen,” and she leaned in close, enough so that Molly caught a whiff of her perfume again. “I get a killer employee discount. I’d be willing to accidentally ring this up wrong, and use the coupon, to make it 75 percent off, instead.” Her voice was low, the warmth of it curling like a secret between the two of them. “For you.”

Molly closed her eyes, took in a deep breath. “I really, really can’t. As much as I want to. It’s a really nice iron. It’s just, I’m going to have to borrow gas money as it is--”

But Sally didn’t draw back. She gave a soft chuckle, and when Molly opened her eyes again, Sally met her gaze.

“How about this? I’ll give you--” and now she turned, grabbing a pen to scrawl across the back of the coupon “--my number, and if you change your mind, we’ll work something out, hm?”

Molly nodded, her mortification near-complete. She knew there was no way in hell she’d actually be back to buy anything, even when she had money, but damn it she wanted to please this ridiculously gorgeous kiosk vendor. So she accepted the card, mumbling something or other about calling back in a week or two.

“I’m looking forward to it, Molly.” Sally offered her hand, and when Molly clasped it, she was equally mortified by how clammy her palms were, and surprised at the firm, confident grip Sally gave. Nothing dainty, but not too tight either.

Molly nodded dumbly and collected her bag. “I am sorry. But, um--thanks. Thank you.”

It wasn’t until Molly was halfway across the parking lot that she caught sight of her right hand, and sighed. She was wearing a rubber band bracelet one of her classmates had made for her, done up in a rainbow pattern.

 _She probably was flirting for a sale, then_ , Molly thought. She didn’t know if she should be offended by such a merciless tactic, or pleased that someone had flirted with her--and what did that say about the state of her love life?

 

# # # # #

 

“C’mon, Molls, we’ve got time to grab a bite, and I’d kill for some lo mein. You want to come? My treat.” Mike, Molly’s lab partner, waggled his eyebrows as he said it. 

This was a few days after the Apple appointment, and Molly had been living off of ramen in the interim, so the prospect of free food with actual vegetables and--god forbid--meat was too tempting to pass up. “Where to?”

“The food court at the mall. It’s just ten minutes away, and all.”

If Mike had been any of the other guys in their class, Molly still would’ve said no, because of course it would’ve been construed as date fodder, no matter how well-known her orientation might have been. At the heart of it, many of the other guys they worked and learned with were still entitled prats. Mike was different. He’d always been quiet and polite, and had been a shoulder for Molly to cry on after an ill-fated three-month fling with her last girlfriend, Irene.

Molly lifted her safety goggles and grinned. “Sure, let me get this last bit of notation down.”

 

# # # # #

 

“This is so good I could marry you, Mike,” Molly groaned after her first bite. Hot, greasy noodles slid off her fork, into the savory pile on her takeout tray. 

Mike laughed and shook his head. “That broke this week?”

“My stupid laptop. My hard drive died.”

“You mentioned. Were they able to recover your stuff off the old one?”

“Most of it, yeah, but--” Molly paused to stuff noodles into her mouth, and _oh lord_ there was a chunk of actual pork. She chewed and swallowed. “Sorry. But I lost that last lab we did, so I’m going to have to get the notes again from you, if that’s okay?”

Mike nodded while Molly stuffed her face again, and one person in the sea of bustling people outside the food court at the mall caught Molly’s eye. _Oh._

It was Sally, who appeared to be on her lunch break. She was carrying her tray from the Japanese place across from them, and when she caught Molly’s eye she grinned.

Molly could feel the slow crawl of that familiar burn, and she nearly choked on her noodles.

And Sally was still drawing closer. Was she actually about to--

She sat down with them. “You don’t mind, do you? I’ve not got anyone else to eat with today…”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Molly blurted right about the time Mike asked, “Who are you?”

Molly glanced back at Mike. “Her name’s Sally. She _works at one of the kiosks here_.” _Oh, god,_ Molly thought. _Please let him remember what I told him about the bloody trip on Tuesday._

Mike, thankfully, cottoned on fast. His eyes widened fractionally, and he grinned. “Ah, hi. I’m Molly’s lab partner. Mike Stamford.” He offered a wave before glancing back over to Molly with a lifted eyebrow, as if to say, _Should I make myself scarce?_

Molly didn’t know what to do. So she smiled helplessly wide and glanced over to Sally, whose hair was pulled up today. A tiny strand had escaped, and looked like it tickled Sally’s neck.

Molly had never wanted to be a strand of hair so much in her life.

“I’m disappointed you never called.” Sally threw her a mischievous grin before tucking into her hibachi chicken.

 _Good lord, she’s dedicated to making that sale!_ Molly found herself getting somewhat angry. It was one thing to lay on an ambush while someone was walking around the mall, but to come over to their table at the food court and corner them? It was just rude.

“I told you I’m broke.” Molly’s heart pounded in her chest, but she didn’t hide the frustration in her voice. It wasn’t like her to rise to confrontation, but this was too much.

Sally’s charming expression disappeared, as jarring as a record-scratch. Her eyebrows shot up, and she looked a bit hurt.

“I’m sorry.” Molly caved instantly, and hated herself a little for it. “That came out a bit strong. But, I mean--”

“I think I’m going to go over to the--um--” Mike rose, and didn’t bother finishing his sentence before scuttling off, leaving his tray behind.

But when Molly glanced back over to Sally, the familiar charm turned back on. She looked like she was trying not to laugh.

Molly clenched her jaw, her fingers tightening around her chopsticks. She glared at her lo mein, which didn’t look half as appetizing as it had been two minutes before. “It’s just rude. First you corner me for a sale, and now you’re laughing at me? I’m sorry I wasted your time--I should’ve just said no in the first place--”

But then Sally did burst out laughing, all the while waving her hand, almost in apology. Molly couldn’t hide the mortification from her expression, so she shifted to get up, to escape.

“Sit, sit. No! I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Sally gasped, laying her hand on Molly’s wrist. She drew in a breath and shook her head. “I’m sorry, listen. I wasn’t trying to push you into buying that ridiculous thing. And I’m sorry I laughed.”

“You--really?” Molly could feel the blood draining from her face now. Was it too late to hide under the table?

“I don’t even work there,” Sally confessed. “I was just holding the fort down while my cousin ran to the bathroom.”

“So you--but why did you-- You made that whole pitch! You curled my hair, even--” Molly floundered. When she realized she'd touched her now-straight hair she jerked her hand down, hiding it in her lap.

“I just did that because I wanted to talk to you.”

That wasn’t something Molly’d ever heard before. “You did?”

Sally nodded, and the edge of a tooth appeared, catching her lower lip as she dipped her chin, peering up at Molly through long lashes. “Mmhm.”

Molly knew she should close her hanging jaw, but that wasn’t happening any time soon.

“Figured you’d catch on when I pointed out your bracelet.”

“You thought I’d realize you didn’t work there because you complimented my bracelet?” Molly tried not to frown.

“I thought you’d realize I was properly trying to flirt with you because I pointed out your rainbow bracelet, except I’m not very good at it and--”

Molly slapped her hand over her face. “I thought you were just trying really hard to sell that overpriced iron! That thing isn’t actually £300, is it?”

Sally snorted at that. “It is.”

“Do people actually buy them?”

“Surprisingly, yeah.”

In the pause that fell between them, the food court clamoured all around, until Sally cleared her throat and offered Molly a shy smile. “So, er--what do you think? D’you think maybe--?”

Without the role of competent salesperson to hide behind, Molly was almost astonished to see just how shy Sally might be. It was cute.

“Actually--” Molly started to rummage for her phone.

“If you’re not interested--”

Molly held up a finger and grinned. She pulled up her messages, and typed in, **This is my number. :D** before hitting enter.

Yeah, okay, so she’d been silly enough to save the kiosk-girl’s number in her phone, even though it was for a stupid bloody curling iron, but--

Sally’s phone pinged. She glanced down at the screen, and then back up to Molly. A grin stretched across her face, and she nodded like she was impressed. “So, is there any chance you’re free Saturday night?”

“I am.” Then a thought occurred to Molly, and she had to keep from laughing. “But wait, one quick question?”

“Shoot.”

“What would you have done if I’d tried to buy that iron?”

Sally’s laugh was loud enough Molly was sure it was audible across the food court. “Y’know, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, to be honest.”

Molly couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. “So Saturday night, then?”

Sally nodded. “It’s a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoy making friends with strangers on the internet. Come by and say hi!
> 
>   * [**My Fandom Tumblr**](http://chucksauce.tumblr.com) for all manner of crying about fictional characters and laughing at shitposts
>   * **[My Fic Rec Blog](http://spoilersauce.tumblr.com)** , if you're into multifandom recs.
>   * **[Under-London](http://under-london.com/)** , the original serialized novel I'm working on for cheap-as-free!
>   * **[My Twitter](http://twitter.com/chucksauce221)** , where I basically live when I'm not writing...
> 



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